The European Employment and Social Inclusion Strategies

1
The European Employment andSocial Inclusion
Strategies

• Key Policies for EQUAL

2
EU Strategic Goal for 2010

• European Councils at Lisbon Feria, 2000
• to become the most competitive and dynamic
  knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of
  sustainable economic growth with more and better
  jobs and greater social cohesion

3
Achieving the strategic goal

• European Employment Strategy (EES)
• Since 1997, review process on going
• Member states prepare annual National Action Plan
  (NEAP)
• European Social Inclusion Strategy
• Since 2001
• National Action Plans cover two years (NAPincl)
• Second action plan currently being drafted, to be
  completed by July 2003

4
Implementation

• Open Method of Co-ordination (OMC)
• institutionalised policy-learning process
• learning from and with others, and in
  anticipation of failure
• management by objectives over medium/long-term
• synergies between social inclusion and employment
  
• promoting social dialogue
• No directives, regulations no sanctions

5
Implications

• Objectives for both strategies agreed at the
  Council of Ministers
• Not imposed by Brussels
• All member state governments have agreed to work
  towards achievement of objectives
• Develop plans
• Monitor progress
• Mobilise all actors

6
Implications

• Both plans call on member-states to mobilise all
  actors in achieving objectives
• All branches of government
• Local, regional and national
• Parliament
• NGOs
• Civic society

7
European Employment Strategy

• Amsterdam Treaty Title on employment introduced
• High level of employment named as key objective
  of EU, all member states agree to co-ordinated
  strategy
• Mainstreaming commitment all community polices
  must take employment impact into account (art.
  127)
• http//europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/news/2
  002/aug/final_pcp.pdf

8
EES Five Year Review

• Evaluation in 2002, after first 5 years
  implementation
• Barcelona Council concludes that EES had proved
  its worth
• Calls for reinforced strategy, incorporating
  targets and goals from Lisbon
• Strategy to focus on implementation and be
  simplified
• Timeframe to be aligned with Lisbon deadline
  (2010), with intermediate evaluation in 2006

9
Streamlining Implementation

• Re-organise EU co-ordination processes to make
  more transparent and intelligble
• Implementation Package (January) includes draft
  Joint Employment Report
• Guidelines Package (April) includes Employment
  Guidelines and country-specific Recommendations
• These form the basis for member states annual
  National Employment Action Plans (NEAP)

10
New EES 3 overarching objectives

• Full employment
• Overall employment rate 67 in 2005, 70 in 2010
• Employment rate for women of 57 in 2005, 60 in
  2010
• Employment rate for older workers of 50 in 2010
• Quality and productivity at work
• Cohesion and an inclusive labour market
• 10 priorities for action to support objectives
• the 10 commandments

11
The 10 Commandments

• Help unemployed and inactive people find a job,
  prevent long-term unemployment
• Encourage entrepreneurship and improve climate
  for business start-ups
• Promote adapatablity of workers firms to change
• Provide more better investment in human capital
  and strategies for life long learning
• Increase labour supply and promote active aging

12
10 Commandments

• Promote gender equality in employment and pay
• Promote integration of and combat discrimination
  against disadvantaged groups
• Make work pay through incentives
• Transform undeclared work into regular employment
• Promote occupational and geographical mobility

13
Targets to Stimulate Reform

• Evaluation of first 5 years shows that target
  setting is an effective way of stimulating reform
• Results focus means priorities backed up by a
  series of specific targets, against which
  progress will be monitored

14
Targets unemployment

• Personalised job search plan for all unemployed
  people before 4th month of unemployment, by 2005
• Work experience/training for all unemployed
  people before 12th month of unemployment 6th
  month for young and vulnerable, by 2010
• 30 of long-term unemployed in work experience or
  training, by 2010

15
Targets discrimination

• Increase average exit age from labour market from
  60 to 65 on average in EU, by 2010
• Halve unemployment gap for disadvantaged groups
  in each member state, by 2010
• Halve the employment gap between EU and non-eu
  nationals in each member state, by 2010

16
Targets gender

• Eliminate gender gaps in employment and halve
  gender pay gap in each member state, by 2010
• Childcare places, by 2010, for
• 33 of 0-3 year olds
• 90 of 3-mandatory school age in each member
  state
• All job vacancies advertised by national
  employment service to be accessible, and able to
  be consulted by anyone, by 2005

17
Targets education training

• Halve school drop-out in each member state, by
  2010
• 80 of 25-64 year olds to have upper secondary
  education, by 2010
• Increase participation rate of adults in
  education/training to minimum of 10 in member
  states by 2010
• Increase company investment in training to 5 of
  labour costs on average in EU (currently 2.3),
  by 2010

18
Targets

• Reduce accidents in work by 15, 25 for
  high-risk occupations, by 2010
• National targets to be set for
• business training
• reduction of red-tape for start-ups
• per capita increase of public and private
  investment in human resources
• tax burden on low paid workers
• undeclared work

19
Recommendations for Ireland 2003

• Job creation address regional imbalances in
  employment, unemployment and job creation
• Lifelong learning increase in-company training,
  implement lifelong learning strategy

20
Recommendations for Ireland, 2003

• Gender equality strengthen efforts to mobilise
  and integrate into the labour market economically
  inactive people, in particular women, by
• continuing to remove tax barriers
• increasing number of affordable childcare places
  and
• addressing the factors underlying the gender pay
  gap

21
Local Dimension to the EES

• Lisbon Council, stressed importance of a fully
  decentralised approach in which the Union,
  Member States, regional and local levels, as well
  as social partners and civil society will be
  actively involved, using variable forms of
  partnership
• Level of involvement of local and regional actors
  to be determined by member states
• Participation should be supported through local
  partnerships, information dissemination
  consultation

22
European Social Inclusion Strategy

• Common Objectives adopted at Nice European
  Council, December 2000
• Social Protection Committee deemed original
  objectives robust and viable, but
• Three substantive areas require amendments to
  highlight their importance

23
Three Important Areas for 2003-4

• Member States need to set targets for
  signficantly reducing the number of people at
  risk of poverty and social exclusion by 2010
• Emphasise the importance of taking the role of
  gender fully into account in the development,
  implementation and monitoring of NAPincls
• Highlight more clearly the high risk of poverty
  and social exclusion as a result of immigration

24
More mainstreaming!

• Multi-dimensional nature of social exclusion
  requires mainstreaming approach, in all relevant
  policies, to promote better understanding
• mainstreaming anti-poverty into employment,
  social protection, education training, health
  housing policies and
• developing priority actions for target groups
  e.g. minorities, children, older people and
  disabled people
• Gender mainstreaming
• In all actions to achieve social inclusion

25
Common Objectives

• Facilitate participation in employment and access
  by all to resources, rights, goods and services
• Prevent the risks of exclusion
• Help the most vulnerable
• Mobilise all relevant bodies

26
Objective 1

• Facilitating participation in employment
• In context of EES, promote access to stable and
  quality employment for all capable of working by
  
• Putting in place pathways to employment for
  vulnerable groups, and mobilising training policy
  to that end
• Developing policies to reconcile work and family
  life
• Using integration employment opportunities of
  social economy
• Improve employability through HR management, work
  organisation and lifelong learning

27
Objective 1

• Access to resources, rights, goods services for
  all
• Organise social protection systems so as to
• Guarantee everyone sufficient resources to live
  life with dignity
• Ensure taking up employment results in increased
  income and promotes employability

28
Objective 1

• Access to resources, rights, goods services for
  all
• Access for all to decent housing with basic
  services
• Access for all to healthcare appropriate to needs
  
• Services for those at risk of exclusion to allow
  effective access to education, justice and other
  services, public private, e.g. sport and culture

29
Objective 2

• Fully exploit the potential of knowledge-based
  society and ICT to ensure no-one is excluded, in
  particular people with disabilties
• Policies to prevent life crises that lead to
  exclusion e.g. homelessness, indebteness
• Action to preserve family solidarity in all its
  forms

30
Objective 3

• Promote integration for those at risk of
  persistent poverty e.g. immigrants, people with a
  disabilty
• Aim to eliminate social exclusion for children
• Develop comprehensive actions for areas marked by
  exclusion

31
Objective 4

• Promote participation and self-expression of
  excluded people, particularly on measures
  affecting them
• Mainstream combating poverty into overall policy
  by
• Mobilising public authorities at national,
  regional local level
• Developing appropriate co-ordination procedures
• Adapting administrative and social services to
  the needs of excluded people, ensuring staff are
  sensitive to needs

32
Objective 4

• Promote dialogue and partnership between all
  relevant bodies, public and private e.g
• Involving social partners, NGOs, service
  providers, as appropriate, in the fight against
  poverty
• Encouraging the active engagement and social
  responsibility of all citizens in the fight
  against poverty
• Fostering the social responsibility of business